Behind every great Israeli scandal is a damning report

While there was no shortage of news on Sunday morning, the legislative efforts by a key coalition party to reduce the authority of the state comptroller has one of Israel’s major print newspapers particularly vexed.

Yedioth Ahronoth levels harsh criticism at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in its extensive coverage of the newly proposed legislation, which it calls “dangerous.”

On its front page, the daily announces that the “Government has declared war on the gatekeeper,” reporting that cabinet ministers are expected to reduce the scope of Yosef Shapira’s authority in a vote scheduled for authority later on Sunday.

According to Yedioth, Netanyahu is likely to instruct his coalition to support the bill proposed by the Jewish Home’s controversial lawmaker Bezalel Smotrich in its first reading.

The bill would bar the comptroller from intervening in the decision-making process of a state body under his investigation or instructing that body to do or refrain from certain actions.

Under Smotrich’s proposal, the comptroller would no longer have the authority to order state bodies to address the shortcomings detailed in his investigations or issue followup reports to ensure the problems had been addressed.

Yedioth’s coverage of the proposal includes a not-so-subtle list of prior reports addressing or exposing various scandals revealed by the state comptroller “that have made a real difference.”

From the scathing report of the government’s mishandling of the last Gaza war, the failure to address the housing crisis and a number of reports detailing alleged wrongdoing by the prime minister, the paper says the comptroller works to address “glaring” injustices in Israeli society.

In an accompanying op-ed, Tuvia Zimuki doesn’t mince words in calling the Jewish Home-backed bill an assault on Israel’s democracy and law and order.

“Up until now, no one has dared to even attempt to destroy the authority of the comptroller on such a fundamental level,” he says. “The job of the comptroller is to be concerned with the welfare of the Israeli public, especially in this time of heightened concerns over transparency and internet privacy.”

Zimuki slams Smotrich and fellow Jewish Home MK Ayelet Shaked for supporting the legislation, and hints at corruption.

“I wonder what they’re getting in return for destroying Israel’s rule of law?”

Israel’s other major dailies, Haaretz and Israel Hayom, barely mention the bill targeting the comptroller, instead focusing on regional developments over the weekend.

Saturday saw Israel fire warning shots at Syrian army positions across the border and the US State Department deny the Palestine Liberation Organization a license to continue its operations in Washington, DC. The Trump administration’s unprecedented move sparked backlash from the Palestinian leadership, who warned they would cut all contact with the US if their offices are shuttered.

Israel Hayom leads its Sunday edition with the headline: “Threats en route to peace talks,” noting that the White House gave the Palestinian Authority 90 days to enter into “meaningful” negotiations with Israel, or its diplomatic presence in the country would be banned.

The free daily also exposes a “pirated” graveyard in the Negev desert that it alleges is an effort by local Bedioun communities to claim some kind of reparations from the state.

According to the paper, a small cemetery has been recently erected near Nevatim in an area slated to be used as a reservoir.

The report says Bedoiun graves “have suddenly begun to emerge” at the site, refuting local claims the grave are ancient.

Tens of thousands of Bedouins live in unrecognized villages in the Negev desert. Bedouin residents who live near the Israeli moshav of Nevatim have sought to limit Israeli construction from encroaching on their communities, citing discrimination.

Israel Hayom quotes a response from pro-settlement group Regavim, which tells the paper the example of the “fictitious cemetery” illustrates how “huge areas in the Negev are saturated with historical inaccuracies.”

Meanwhile, Haaretz leads its Sunday coverage with reports that Attorney General Avichai Mandleblit is set to approve the expropriating of 13 parcels of privately owned Palestinian land in order to build new roads in the West Bank.

The left-wing paper says Mandelblit’s legal opinion could lead to the legalization of over a dozen Israeli outposts in the West Bank.

“At the core of Mendelblit’s opinion is the finding that land owned by individual Palestinians can be appropriated to create an access road to an outpost even if the road is to be used only by Jewish settlers,” Haaretz’s Yotam Berger writes. “It’s a precedent-setting decision at variance with how Israel has treated private Palestinian land in the West Bank.

“In his legal opinion, Mendelblit did caution that the wider implications … but in practice he gave the go-ahead to legalize a number of other unauthorized West Bank outposts,” he says.

Mandelblit in recent years has harshly criticized the government’s efforts to bypass a High Court ruling ordering the evacuation of a contested West Bank settlement. He was heavily criticized for his stance on the Amona outpost, which put him at odds with some of Netanyahu’s cabinet ministers and Israel’s pro-settlement camp.

Berger’s report quotes the head of an Israeli settlement watchdog, who says Mandelblit’s opinion regarding the roads indicates that “Israel has officially stopped being embarrassed by [expropriating land], and is gradually adopting it as its official policy.”